LITTLE BROWN DOVE 217 



22.8 mm.) " ; but the average of forty eggs is 1.01 in., barely, by 0.86 in. 

 full ( = 25.6 by 21.9 mm.). 



They breed up to at least 5,000 ft. in the Himalayas. 



The Little Brown Dove is a resident, non-migratory bird, but like 

 many others of this family, moves about locally according to the abun- 

 dance or otherwise of its food-supply, and also up and down the moimtaina 

 to some extent under the influence of the various seasons. 



On the whole, it is a bird of drier climates than is the Spotted Dove, 

 far more tolerant of heat and drought combined and also more re- 

 stricted to open country. In its habits it is just as confiding and tame 

 as the last bird, and resorts regularly to gardens and compounds and 

 the immediate vicinity of villages, where it runs about on the ground 

 picking up grain and the various seeds upon which it chiefly feeds. 

 If not harassed or frightened it wiU hardly move out of the way of the 

 children as they play about, and when forced to move, merely flies 

 to the nearest bare branch of a tree, where it sits and " coos " until 

 it once more returns to the ground to feed. 



Its flight is much like that of the Spotted Dove : they rise with a 

 clatter and much flapping of the wing straight up from the ground 

 for two or three feet, and then more quietly fly straight away. Once 

 on the wing they are capable of flying with great speed, but normally 

 fly rather leisurely and with slow beats, alternating with short sailing 

 movements. 



When courting, their actions on the wing are very pretty : as a 

 rule they perch high up on some bare branch, and after much billing 

 and cooing to his little mate, the male suddenly launches himself high 

 into the air, his wings meeting over his head in loud claps as he mounts 

 higher and higher, and then there is a sudden stoppage of the noise 

 and he sinks slowly with widespread wings in graduaUy lessening spirals 

 back to the side of his wife. 



These birds probably pair for life and are most affectionate to one 

 another and very faithful. They are also exceUent parents and 

 share all duties between them, the hen generaUy sitting by day when 

 they have eggs, and the cock by night, and the latter also constantly 

 feeds and attends to his wife when she is thus employed. But though 

 in their own family curole they show such admirable traits, outside 

 they share in fuU with the other members of their tribe the faults of 

 greediness and quarrelsomeness. 



